The Cartographers(24)

“How many do you think they have? A hundred thousand?” Naomi asked.

“Half a million,” Felix clarified.

“That’s right, I forgot you worked there,” she replied.

“A lifetime ago,” he said. “I actually heard about the breakin last night. I would have said something earlier if I’d known we were taking over security.”

“How? It’s not even on the news yet,” William asked.

“Long story,” he said. “An old ex stopped by to tell me. She used to work there, too.”

“Reigniting an old office romance, are we?” Priya winked.

“She got me fired,” he said.

“Oh.” Priya winced. “Sorry.”

“Water under the bridge now.” Felix shrugged. “The visit was just unexpected.”

It had been unexpected. When he’d grabbed his phone yesterday to see who had texted him, the last person he ever would have imagined it to be was Nell.

“I’m much happier here,” he finished. But it irritated him that even now, as he recalled the moment he first saw her name on the screen, he felt a thrill of nervous excitement all over again.

“Well, I’m glad,” William said. “Plus, having someone familiar with the NYPL’s archives should make getting us up to speed go even faster. And I want this to move fast. We’re announcing in half an hour in the main auditorium.”

A faint ding echoed through the office then—their calendars all chimed with the meeting alert at once.

William nodded to the big screen, where their team calendar had appeared, the event highlighted. A live video of the rapidly filling auditorium was streaming in the corner, Ainsley Simmons already at the podium, going through her notes. “The two of you can head over as soon as you’re ready,” he said to Naomi and Priya. “Felix, before you do, I want you to set the Haberson Map to search for the NYPL burglars.”

“Now?” Felix asked. “But we hardly have any data.”

“It’ll start coming in soon enough,” William said. “I don’t want us to waste any time. Mark it as top priority.” He turned to make for the elevators, and Naomi and Priya set off after him. They would go down to the auditorium, but William would go up, back to his private office, where he would watch Ainsley make the public announcement through his tablet screen, like always.

“Bring coffee, we’ll save you a seat!” Priya called over her shoulder as the glass doors slid shut behind them, leaving Felix alone in the office.

“Be right there,” he said softly. But instead of reaching for his mouse, he stayed motionless in his chair.

In the silence, his gaze drifted over to his messenger bag. Inside the outer pocket was the USB drive Nell had given him the night before.

Seven years.

She was practically a stranger to him now, he told himself. This was just a favor for Swann. That was all.

But then why had he paced the sidewalk outside her building for ten minutes before heading upstairs? Why had he been as nervous as he had when she opened the door and he saw her again, after all this time?

So nervous that the only thing he could do was immediately start an argument, because bickering over the past was so much easier than having to have a real, mature conversation?

Felix sighed.

Well, he’d said he would help. And if he was going to aim the mighty power of the Haberson Map at finding the burglars, maybe this security video was a good first piece of data to give it.

He had to admit, he was curious to see what the Haberson Map could do with such a vague target and so little background information. Just how creative it could get.

It was definitely not because—since he wasn’t going to accept Nell’s invitation to the funeral of the man who had ruined his life—being able to find something on the tape would give him an excuse to talk to her again.

Who was he kidding?

Felix inserted the drive into his computer.

After a brief load, a folder of video files popped up. The first was a grid with feeds from every camera both inside and outside the building.

Felix clicked his tongue, impressed. Most library and museum security was significantly behind compared to other industries, but it looked like in the last seven years, the NYPL had done at least a little upgrading. He could tell from the model information that the new cameras and speakers were motion sensitive, designed to alert for glass breaks, paper tearing, or wood cracking, so they would turn on automatically under those stimuli, rather than simply wastefully recording all day and night.

Inconclusive, Nell had said.

He clicked play.

The file began at exactly midnight, according to the time stamp. At first, all the screens were completely black. Felix let the scene unfold naturally rather than scrolling through on fast-forward. At 12:02 a.m., the main lobby camera suddenly flared to life—the security guard, starting his midnight rounds, was moving.

For several minutes, Felix followed the guard from the front desk into the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room, then the Dorot Jewish Division and the Wachenheim Gallery, watching as various areas blinked on and went dark again one at a time in his wake.

Then the Map Division suddenly also lit up as something there quickly moved across the room.

Felix hit pause, and his eyes went to the Celeste Bartos Education Center auditorium, on the other side of the first floor. The security guard was still there, halfway through his rounds. And the burglars were now in the Map Division.